Selena-Inspired Halloween Costume For Little Girls

Selena may have died 21 years ago, but her legacy lives on through her music, movies, books and now, a makeup line. Her iconic status in music and cultural history was made clear to the world when MAC sold out of their Selena collection the day it was launched. More than 15,000 fans waited hours in line in hopes they’d gain entrance into the Corpus Christi launch event in early October.

And now, tween and teen girls are falling in love with “Como la Flor” and emulating her dance moves, as though she never left us.

Selena was strong, beautiful, talented, confident and intelligent. She loved the stage, and did not shy away from glitter, gems, a cat-eye or bold lip. If your little one wants to pay homage to this icon and her style, here’s a Selena-inspired makeup tutorial to use for Halloween or any time of the year. Don’t get to costumey for this look. It’s more about embodying what made her so special and and celebrating her signature style—the bold lip, cat eye, big hoops and wearing purple!

Start off by lightly exfoliating your child’s face and lips. The MAC Selena lipstick is a matte finish, so you want to make sure it goes on smoothly. If you don't have the MAC Selena lipstick, you can use any matte red lipstick.

Since you’re paying homage and not trying to replicate Selena’s iconic Grammy Awards look (unless you’re an amazing seamstress, I say got for it!), you can pretty much get a ’90s inspired crop top just about anywhere these days. I found this purple top at Forever 21, and simply stitched it up for a perfect fit. The criss-cross neck reminded me of a few her bustiers (without it looking like an actual one).

Apply a bit of foundation to the face and lips to prep the skin for the lip color, blush and eyeshadows. For the eyes, I used MAC’s “No Me Queda Mas” (a taupe brown) on the lids, "Fotos y Recuerdos" (pink) on the crease and "Selena" (purple) on the edges.

Photograph by Rachel Matos

For the cat eye, you can use any liquid eye liner. If you look at pictures of Selena, you will see that she usually wore a cat or winged eye as part of her signature makeup look.

Oh, and yes, my 9-year-old model is the owner of the amazing lashes!

I fell in love with the “Techno Cumbia” blush that comes in the bronzer compact. As pretty as the packaging is, it doesn’t do the blush any justice. It goes on a lot stronger than it looks, so I recommend you start off light and build.

Add a few curls, hoop earring and the signature red lip, and you’re all set! I used the “Dreaming of You” lipstick with the pink and shimmery “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” lipgloss to complete the look.

Photograph by Rachel Matos

The look is not complete without a smile, singing and dancing!

A note about the MAC Selena makeup: It's been sold out in stores and online since the beginning of October, but there are plenty of drugstore dupes you can find to color match! The MAC website will restock the Selena line in January and you can sign up to be notified at MACcosmetics.com.